Archive for December 24, 2011

Bellator Fighting Championships 59 took place on November 26 2011 at Caesar’s Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The main event was the season five heaveyweight tournament final between Eric Prindle and Thiagle Santos. Let me tell you this fight did not last long. Santos took Prindle down twice then elected to fight on his feet. Then Santos gives Prindle a swift soccer kick right to his groin. The strike was definitely not the worst groin shot I have ever seen, not even close. Prindle ends up taking the full 5 minutes he is allowed to recover then tells the ref he feels like he is going to through up and the fight is declared a no contest at 1:24 of the first round. I was pumped for this fight but it ended in total disappointment. They showed the strike from many angles and he should have been able to continue. Bellator however is scheduling a rematch between Prindle and Santos which will take place sometime in early 2012. Bellator certainly did not want this to be the conclusion of season 5 as this was the main event. The sad thing was this was not the only disappointment on the card.

In the co-main event Kurt Pellegrino (a New Jersey Native) and UFC veteran with 12 UFC fights faced off against the always dangerous Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in a mma lightweight match.

Pellegrino had come out of retirement for this bought but it sure didnt last long. Patricky came out and landed a 1 – 2 punch combo that dropped Pellegrino. Pellegrino did the best he could to stay in the fight by grabbing a leg and closing the distance while hoping to clear the cobwebs out of his head. The ref jumps in and stops the fight when Pellegrino doesn’t look like he is in any danger at all. This really pissed the crowd off as the boo’s started pouring out from the crowd. The terrible stoppage tarnished what would have been a staple in the Pitbulls career.

As the UFC 141 cage fighting event fast is fast approaching one can’t help but want to talk about the main event. Alistair Overeem vs. Brock Lesnar is sure to be a knock down drag out brawl. You have to give Overeem the nod when it comes to all aspects of the fight. Overeem is currently the Strike Force heavy weight champion. He has been in the cage with the whose who of heavy weights in the world carrying a record of 35 wins and 11 losses and has been fighting MMA since back in 1999. He has fought fighters like Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum, Mirko Cropcop, Mark Hunt, Paul Buentello, Shogun and the list goes on and on. In the news conference Overeem says his experience level will play a major factor and he will tare Brock apart piece by piece. While Brock Lesnar is relatively new to the sport having his first fight 8 years later. Brock carry’s a record of 5 wins and 2 losses. One loss coming via submission from Frank Mir (he later knocks Mir out in his career) and one loss via TKO via Cain Velasquez heavy hands. One can also argue that the ref could have stopped the beating he took in round one vs. Shane Carwin as he was blocking punches with his face. After Carwin punched himself out Brock didn’t have much trouble choking him out in round two with an arm triangle. I personally think Overeem will knock Lesnar out in the second round but you never know what can happen in MMA. After all who would have thought the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos fight would end so early in the first round.